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  • How the DOE Is Looking to Save Hydropower

    The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled a slate of measures to help U.S. hydropower thrive as costs for wind and solar plummet. Measures will include a roadmap to identify hydro’s value in a future grid, and a first-of-its-kind prize designed to encourage innovative and faster pumped storage construction techniques. In her opening speech at Waterpower […]

  • FPL Will Build World’s Largest Battery Storage System

    Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) has been building new solar farms and bringing gigawatts of new natural gas-fired generation capacity online in recent years. Now the utility has announced what it calls the world’s largest solar-powered battery storage system. FPL on March 28 said the Manatee Energy Storage Center, a 409-MW/900-MWh battery storage facility, […]

  • N.C. Officials Order Duke Energy to Excavate Coal Ash Ponds

    North Carolina officials have ordered Duke Energy to excavate all its coal ash storage ponds in the state, saying the utility’s current plan for its coal ash sites does not sufficiently protect groundwater. The directive issued April 1 comes after regulators in other states, including Virginia, issued similar rulings regarding coal ash disposal in those […]

  • New Gas-Fired Plants Come Online in Michigan

    Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp. (UMERC) placed two new natural gas-fired generating stations into commercial operation on March 31, part of the company’s plan to reshape its generation fleet as it seeks to “balance reliability and customer cost with environmental stewardship.” UMERC, a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group, also retired the coal-fired 430-MW Presque Isle […]

  • Inside NET Power: Gas Power Goes Supercritical 

    A project to demonstrate a novel power cycle that promises to produce low-cost, reliable, and flexible power from natural gas—while generating no atmospheric emissions, and fully capturing carbon dioxide—is inching closer to commissioning. Its developers are now actively assessing siting for the first commercial-scale 300-MW NET Power facility. NET Power’s 50 MWth Demonstration Plant in La […]

  • What Are Supercritical CO2 Power Cycles?

    While conventional power plant cycles produce power from turbines using water or steam as the working fluid, supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) cycles use CO2 that is in a supercritical state—at a temperature and pressure above its critical point where liquid and gas phases are not distinguishable.  CO2 has a relatively low critical pressure of 7.4 megapascal […]

  • Optimizing Kaplan Turbine Efficiency with Minimal Cost, Effort, and Time

    When the blades of individual Kaplan turbines are not continuously adjusted to achieve peak efficiency, the result is non-optimal performance and unnecessarily high mortality of downstream migrating fish

  • The Economic Thicket of Generating Cost Comparisons

    Comparing the costs of differing electric generating technologies has become popular among advocates for particular technologies and those seeking to find the optimal approach to new generation. While getting

  • Show Preview: ELECTRIC POWER

    The ELECTRIC POWER Conference + Exhibition celebrates its 21st birthday this year, with the event scheduled for April 23–26 at the Mirage Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. ELECTRIC POWER for the past two